Second Life Wiki Receives Takedown Notice

October 1, 2009

The creator of Second Life in Education, a wiki designed to document the educational uses of the online world, has received notice from developer Linden Labs that the site infringes on their trademark.

The website has been in operation since 2006. While Jokay Wollongong wrote on her blog that the notice came as “a kick in the guts,” the site’s founder said that she would not fight the request and would move the resources of her wiki to another domain. She also wrote:

I also worry that this is a sign of things to come for many other residents who are creating fantastic content.

Massively notes that one of the infringements in question centered on Linden Lab’s SL trademark, which they only registered within the past two weeks.

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Comments

Re: Second Life Wiki Receives Takedown Notice

Submitted by Weatherlight on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 15:42.

The thing is, if she had the site for this long and Linden Labs knew about it and said nothing until now, I would think she would have a leg to stand on, so long as she is not charging or making money off of it.

This just seems strange.

~Weatherlight~

Re: Second Life Wiki Receives Takedown Notice

Submitted by Technogeek on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 17:23.

Actually, if it's because of the two-weeks-registered trademark, it makes perfect sense.

The thing is, under US law, a trademark must be actively defended in order for the registree to continue to claim it. This is actually at the root of a number of stories involving Disney suing people for painting Mickey Mouse on the walls of a daycare they run (or the like) -- if a competitor can prove that Disney (or Linden Labs, in this case) knew about unauthorized usage of the trademark but did not act, they have legitimate grounds for the courts to rule the trademark abandoned, at which point they can start using said trademark with their own products without having to pay a dime.

The Massively article did argue (and I would be inclined to agree, though of course it's not like I've ever taken, let alone passed, any bar exam) that the usage of the trademark in this context would likely fall under fair use, so I'm thinking Neeneko was right about it being an overzealous lawyer more worried about "Second Life" becoming a legally generic term for virtual worlds than about not pissing off the community.

Re: Second Life Wiki Receives Takedown Notice

Submitted by Karsten Aaen on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 12:48.

I don't understand this? Is just as if Linden Labs (Second Life) does not want a website documented how much can be learned from playing computergames online. Hopefully, this is a just a lawyer who tries to earn his keep...

Re: Second Life Wiki Receives Takedown Notice

Submitted by ZippyDSMlee on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 12:26.

All the more reason why TM/CP needs to be scaled back....

Until lobbying is a hanging offense I choose anarchy! Stop supporting big media and furthering the criminalization of consumers!! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/

---

http://zippydsm.deviantart.com/

Re: Second Life Wiki Receives Takedown Notice

Submitted by Neeneko on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 10:19.

Massively had a good post on it pointing out that this is probably the result of a lawyer who was tasked with 'protecting the trademark' trying to rack up kills to prove their worth.

It would not surprise me if LL management came back with an apology... I would be surpised if they even knew this was happening ahead of time.

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NyuRena: You nailed it James! Yikes..06/18/2013 - 1:56pm

james_fudge: With MS willing to share with the government, an always listening device should give everyone pause.06/18/2013 - 1:37pm

james_fudge: you can't turn off the Microphone on the Kinect and it has to be plugged in. It's not rocket science.06/18/2013 - 1:35pm

E. Zachary Knight: The Humble Bundle Guys just don't like me having money in my pocket do they? https://www.humblebundle.com/06/18/2013 - 1:12pm

E. Zachary Knight: CMiner, I know that my Android camera is off unless I am using an application that turns it on. Same with the microphone.06/18/2013 - 12:38pm

CMiner: Can you turn off the camera on an iPhone? Like, -really- turn it off, not just change a setting that -tells- you the camera is off?06/18/2013 - 12:13pm

james_fudge: when they make it a requirement, yes they are06/18/2013 - 12:10pm

CMiner: I just don't think Microsoft bears any more (or less) responsibility for privacy with its Kinect camera than do the makers of laptops or smartphones with integrated cameras.06/18/2013 - 12:00pm

Imautobot: The ability to operate the console without the camera is key. It's a peripheral, not directly integrated into the console, and yet it behaves as if it is. Thankfully I don't have kids, and won't have an Xbone either.06/18/2013 - 11:49am

CMiner: Oh, I agree that the decision to make the kinect mandatory/always listening is terrible.06/18/2013 - 11:48am

E. Zachary Knight: CMiner, and the easier the provider makes to do such things, the better. The fact that the XBone will not even funtion without it plugged in and turned on in some fashion makes a world of difference from a PC Webcam.06/18/2013 - 11:38am

CMiner: It takes steps on the user's part to ensure 100% privacy (unplugging, uninstalling, putting tape over it, not putting it in the kid's rooms, etc)06/18/2013 - 11:29am

CMiner: My point is that no webcam producing company can guarantee that no one will ever ever ever be able to access video from that webcam without your knowledge and permission06/18/2013 - 11:28am

E. Zachary Knight: Of course at that point, you are still opening up yourself to Windows zero day vulnerabilities and back doors that they are happy to share with the government before Windows users.06/18/2013 - 11:26am

E. Zachary Knight: Cminer, I don't because I wipe the OS and reinstall something more secure, Linux. Even still, just wiping the OS and reinstalling Windows fresh removes all the bloatware PC companies install.06/18/2013 - 11:26am

E. Zachary Knight: I agree that the Kinect requirement of the XBone has my civil liberty senses tingling. Just another nail in the coffin for me.06/18/2013 - 11:25am

E. Zachary Knight: Honestly, I wouldn't put anything with an integrated camera in my kids' rooms. You are just asking for trouble. Of course, I am not a fan of having tvs/videogames/computers in kids rooms in general.06/18/2013 - 11:24am

CMiner: In the case of integrated webcams on laptops, do you have the same concern that people at Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc might be spying on you?06/18/2013 - 11:24am

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